42 and 43: The Traveling Gnome and the Travelocity Gnome

Look, I really tried to ignore it, but the "Traveling Gnome" of Travelocity fame (or infamy) bothers me nearly as much as the Traveling Gnome meme of years past. While I heartily endorse gnomenapping, just do the decent thing and bury them in an unmarked grave or something (maybe hitting them a few times with a shovel, for good measure); don't waste time and life energy transporting the gnome around with you, snapping photographs of it. Travelocity gamely (or, as I would put it, lamely) picked up the Traveling Gnome idea and ran into the endzone with it. Over and over and over again. And it's not even a terribly gnomish gnome -- it's like a Corporate Gnome(tm) -- look at the blank expression on its face, the concealed hands -- it's a gnome that means business, literally and figuratively. The Travelocity Gnome is a gangster. And so it's even more of a fraud than gnomes in general, who strive for nothing more than being whimsical nuisances. You're expected to simply trust this gnome with your travel arrangements? Good luck with that, Bud. You're going to end up in a mushroom forest, naked, with an apple in your mouth, and no memory of how you got there. That is a gnomish idea of a "nice trip."

I can almost imagine the company artist being charged with crafting a gnome for Travelocity, them saying "Look, we want a gnome, like those Traveling Gnomes, right? But he can't look too impish -- we want to convey the idea of the Traveling Gnome, without it being too, well, in your face. We want a gnome who has no agenda except bringing good savings to people in the market to travel. Can you do this?" And the artist said "Sure." and the Travelocity Gnome was born.